Nemesis: SYOC Arena
by Lazersword88
Summary: After a WMD hits an already infection crippled Chicago, time begins to run out as the remaining survivors die from the unleashed chemicals. Someone also seems to be augmenting the zombies with fearsome new weapons. Rumors circulate that there is a scarce cure for the deadly toxins. As time runs out the survivors must kill each other to reach the cure and survive. SYOC vs SYOC.
1. Introduction and OC application

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here. I can't believe no one has tried a concept like this before. After playing through Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects again, one of my favorite childhood games, the idea dawned on me to make a story with a similar story mechanic set in the Highschool of the Dead universe. Please note that this story is experimental, meaning that it could be a major success or a catastrophic failure depending on your reception of it.

So as the title suggests, this story will be and SYOC arena of sorts. In a manner similar to Marvel Nemesis, we will follow the exploits of four characters at a time. We will follow each character for a brief chapter (about 1k words) which will explore their backstory, goals, motivations and the continued progress towards their goals in a post-apocalyptic world. The first four characters that meet my standards (which are fairly high) will be the first characters to be included in the story.

However once I write one chapter with each character in the rotation, that's when things will get interesting. The characters that make the story after the first four characters will be placed on the Nemesis roster. When we reach the every fifth chapter, the top four characters on the waiting list will be matched up against the existing four characters in ways that I think make sense. That's when you guys will come in. At the end of the fourth chapter, I will leave vague previews alluding to the each of the possible fights along with a chapter title name. From there it is up to you.

With your reviews on that chapter, you will vote on which of these Nemesis battles you want to see. Once all the votes have been cast, it's time for me to write the OC versus OC battle. Keep in mind that just because your OC is attacked by a Nemesis, that doesn't mean they are automatically dead. However, the odds may be in the Nemesis' favor since some of the reasons for pitting that Nemesis against the character would be to exploit an advantage they may have.

"Lazersword88, have you lost your mind?" I hear the followers of my other stories complain. "You can never make this work. Just get back to work on Dancing though Flames and Dead Delinquents!"

Don't worry guys; I'm not giving up on those stories. They will still get a once a month update as always. However I wanted to introduce a bit of variety into my writing and this seems to be the best way for me to do it.

As for any concerns about character balance, there is no need to fret. I'm taking the character stat sheet idea I had from Dead Delinquent and tweaking it for OC vs OC. All of the characters will have the same number of stat points to allocate. In the end of the day though it will come down to how the stats stack up against each other. I do realize that the winner is my personal opinion, but I will do my best to keep the fights fair and entertaining. Additionally I will give you both an epic summarization of the battle to keep just like in Marvel Nemesis and I will give you my reasoning behind the results.

The best part is that the winner either gets to keep their spot in the story or take it for their own if they were a nemesis. Then after another four short chapters, we will reach another nemesis clash. We will take the three nemeses from the last round along with the next one waiting on the list, mix them up between the characters and have you guys vote again on which scenario you would like to see.

Hopefully you guys grasp the concept now. If this story gets enough characters and support, it could go on for as long as you guys want it to. However if this story barely receives any support, then it won't go far. I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide by your participation whether or not this story will continue.

The story will be set in Chicago, one year after the outbreak and just mere days after a devastating chemical explosion. While the explosion did not vanquish every person in the city, they are all starting to slowly suffer and die from chemical poisoning. In addition the zombie horde not only survived, but someone seems to be augmenting the zombies with cybernetics appendages and devastating new weapons. Rumors amongst the remaining survivors begin to circle that somewhere in the city there exists a cure to the poison that they are suffering from. This pits almost all of the remaining survivors against one another in a race against time and each other to find a cure and survive another day.

Bear in mind that OC characters will die in this story. Heck, most of the characters will die in this story. But if you believe that your OC is amongst the best of the best, than be prepared to be put to the ultimate test.

One last thing before we get to the application. I will not be using any of my OCs as Nemeses or main characters. I feel as though using one of my characters would create an unfair bias for that character. In addition, as much as I value my fellow writer's friendship, past relations with me will hold no merit as to whether your character gets in or whether they will survive their fights to the death. While my other stories focus heavily on relationships, this story will focus on combat and survival. Also, here are a few more basic ground rules.

No super tragic backstories. Balance the bad with a bit of good.

No teams of characters.

No siblings/family members.

No characters with preexisting rivalries.

No characters from my other stories.

No stereotypical characters or characters that fall into common character archetypes.

No superpowers.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's get into my short and sweet character application! We will only be focusing on what is important here. Please fill out my app only. I won't accept apps from other stories. I'm going to leave a copy of the app on my profile so it is easier for you to copy and complete.

OC Application for Nemesis:

Name:

Nicknames/Aliases

Age: (13-19, normal high school ages only)

Species: (No aliens or anything like that. What I mean is are they human? Are they augmented by technology? Are they infected and augmented with technology? Get creative, but stay within the realm of scientific theory.)

Gender:

Sexuality (not very important in this story):

Family (not required, but the background is appreciated):

Height/Weight:

Nationality:

Ethnicity:

Religious Beliefs:

Skin Color:

Eye Color (realistic please):

Hair Color (realistic please):

Hair Style:

Body Type:

Clothes (Keep in mind they will be wearing mostly the same thing throughout the story, so choose wisely):

Scars/Tattoos/etc.:

History (Include backstory, how they survived the initial outbreak and anything else noteworthy. More detail is always good, but keep it concise and mostly free of rambling and useless information:

Personality (Include their personality progression and how the outbreak shaped it over time):

Why do they hate other survivors? (Enough to want to fight them to the death?):

Likes/Dislikes:

Weapons (You may have up to three, given that it is reasonable they can carry them all. No guns please, because they just take away from the fun. Keep it realistic. Include how they were acquired and why they are the character's preferred weapons. You may include three weapons total (Primary, Secondary and Emergency))

Fighting style (Be specific. Do they like to hang back and used ranged attacks or are they up close and personal. Make sure to have plenty of detail and creativity here):

For the following you will be allocating points into your characters abilities. Every character will have the same pool of starting points in which to allocate, therefore making all characters balanced in theory. If your character has under or over the amount of points assignable to a specific category, they will either not be considered or be reevaluated after a correction has been made by the author. Be sure to use a calculator if you have to. Additionally, you may not take skill points from one skill pool and apply them to another (i.e. taking a point away from strength and using it for a weapon proficiency). Be sure to erase the stat descriptions when you send in your application, I'm only interest in seeing what you have for each stat. Please allocate between 1 (minimum) and 10 (maximum) points to each stat.

Offensive Skill Tree: 40 total points available for allocation

Strength: Determines the ease at which a character can lift objects, swing heavier weapons and overpower opponents.

Speed: Determines How fast a character is at maximum speed.

Agility: Determines how quickly a character reaches their maximum speed from a complete stop

Dexterity: Determines a character's flexibility and ease of movement. Makes them more resistant to injury and passively increases some defensive abilities. Higher levels of dexterity mean the user is more capable wielding two single handed weapons at a time, should they choose to do so.

Reach: With all else equal, an attacking physical based character with a higher reach will have their strike have priority over another physical combatant attacking simultaneously (assuming no defensive options are in play).

Skill: A characters skill in combat, combat experience or familiarity with their own weapon handiwork.

Jump: A character with a higher jump ability will be able to hurdle over objects on the battlefield. Higher levels in jumping will allow the user to climb short walls and attack enemies that they have launched into the air.

Awareness: A higher awareness stat may give its user the critical information they need to turn the fight around. In addition, those with higher awareness are more likely to use other obstacles to their advantage.

Defensive Skill Tree: 40 total points available for allocation

Toughness: This ability is fairly self-explanatory. This is your character's ability to shrug off non-lethal or non-infectious strikes. Also this signifies your character's ability to cope with lingering injury.

Stamina: This stat determines how long your OC can use their best moves or move their fastest before tiring. Stamina is how well your character deals with the mental part of pain.

Block: The jack of all trades defense capable of blocking both melee and ranged strikes, but with no way of counterattacking intuitively.

Dodge: The best way to dodge ranged assaults. Allows for easy counterattack against a ranged weapon using foe. Not as effective as blocking or parrying up close against physical attackers, especially against swings and slashes that cover a lot of ground.

Parry: The best way to deal with physical strikes. Elegant and well-timed parries will render an aggressive melee attacker defenseless. However, only the most experienced parries can handle ranged assault with only mediocre results.

Elusiveness: The characters ability to deal with groups of attackers, evading zombies, staying hidden or hiding on the fly.

Luck: How often a character will get a lucky break. Helps characters find what they are looking for, a random weapon in desperate moments and other unpredictable effects.

Recovery: How fast your character recovers from significant battle damage. A higher recovery reduces the time injuries take to heal and how fresh the character is the day after a massive battle.

Weapon Specialization Points: 20 points for allocation (Be sure to allocate points to the weapon skills of the weapons you might be using. Keep in mind that in some scenarios your OC may not have access to their preferred weapons).

1 Handed Light Stabbing (knives, shiv, claws, ect) (Dual with 4+ Dexterity):

1 Handed Medium Stabbing (Rapier, saber, short sword, ect) (Dual with 7+ Dexterity):

2 Handed Heavy Stabbing (Spear, Pike, Lance, ect):

1 Handed Cleaving (Long sword, curved sword, hatchet, ect) (Dual with 7+ Dexterity):

2 Handed Cleaving (Katana, Two Handed Sword, Heavy Axe, Halberd, ect):

1 Handed Crushing (Hammer, Maul, Mace, ect) (Dual with 9+ Dexterity):

2 Handed Crushing (Warhammer, ect):

1 Handed Light Thrown (Knives, Darts, ect) (Dual along with another One Handed weapon at 8+ Dexterity):

2 Handed Heavy Thrown (Javelin, Spear, Ball and Chain, ect):

2 Handed Bow Ranged (Bow, Crossbow, Heavy Slingshot, ect):

Battlefield Armor:

Supporting Equipment:

That is the end of the form. Good luck creating your characters and I hope to see a large turnout for this survival of the fittest (and most popular) SYOC story! Lazersword88, signing out.


	2. Mission 1: Dainty: Enter the Mist

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here getting this story started at long last. I plan on making this story a two times a month update. Given the chapter's fairly short length this should be fairly easy to do and you guys won't be cheated out of quality due to each chapter's focus on a single character. Just so you guys know, I write most of my chapters in a single sitting, so if there are a few errors here or there I apologize. I've got a pretty busy schedule with sports, friends, school, sleep and my other stories. Now without further ado, here are the accepted main cast characters and the character on the nemesis roster so far:

Starting Main Cast:

1) Dainty Trestorous, from awesome dt.

2) "Zach" from Mikendall

3) Misty Thyme from Mr. LanaBanana.

4) Aaron Nolan from Sunset's Crying.

Nemesis Roster:

1) ? from Tiruneko.

2) ? From R.J. Niner

3) ? from Ushinatta Neko

4) ? from HIKAGE-SAMA

5) ? from zhane17

That's the roster for now. I did receive more than 9 characters, but some of them just did not meet my higher standards. I'd like to reiterate that it is not too late to send in a character. My only request is that I don't get two submissions from the same person who either already has a character in the story or already failed to have a character accepted.

Also most of you won't care about this next bit since you aren't longtime fans of my stories, but I'll tell you about my new poll anyway. I'm trying to decide whether to continue on with my first HOTD SYOC Dancing through Flames. While the story has been very successful, some of the decisions I made while writing it back when I was new to Fanfiction are really making it difficult to write now. While this may not pertain directly to this story, I does indirectly affect the time I have to work on this one. I you would like to voice your opinion in that poll or check out the story in question, feel free to click into my profile.

Ok so with all that out of the way, it's time to introduce are first character…

First day of the End Z day + 1 year

The fresh morning sunlight slowly woke up Dainty Trestorous, causing her to yawn and outstretch her thin arms. Greeting her immediately was the wet slobber of the dog that had been accompanying her ever since she had been camped up in this back alley convenience store.

"Morning Clyde…" Dainty said, hugging the young German shepherd.

Dainty didn't know the dog's actual name, but she liked to name things that she found cute like this dog. Dainty happened upon this convenience store after her best and only friend had died on the day of the outbreak. She was initially depressed and lonely because of his death, but then she found Clyde hiding in the backroom of the small convenience shop.

Dainty got up and walked outside of the small shop, covering her nose to cover up the scent. The cold outdoors wind felt good blowing over Dainty, but the sun was almost entirely blocked out from the paved space in front of the storefront. Blocking the only ground entrance to the store was a towering heap of decomposing flesh that filled the entire alley and rose about eight feet into the air. Bodies of both dead humans and zombies made the makeshift wall, with all of them had been cut asunder by Dainty's deft blade work.

However while Dainty's improvised wall of flesh kept the undead horde out, it also kept her from leaving from the ground. After being holed up in the store for a about a month, Dainty began to realize that the provisions of the store were not enough to keep her sustained. She soon realized that she could access the store's roof via a fire escape and jump from roof to roof to collect supplies and use other amenities. However recently the horde had been increasingly active and things that in normal life that would have been givens, like running water, started to fail or become increasingly hard to acquire.

Dainty walked back into the shop with Clyde at her side, walking up to a mirror and frowning at what she saw. It had been three weeks since the water at her usual show spot had stopped running and it showed as her usually fair skin and jet black fair were interlaced with splotches of brown dirt and black grease. The dress she had been wearing since she came to this store was in not much of a better state. The article was originally a black dress which ended at her mid-thighs and had full sleeves with cuffs. A large bow was in the middle of the dress and was flanked by red check marks in the lower part of the dress. Along with the once colorful dress she wore black tights, matching black socks and once bright pink shoes. Now however, none of the clothes looked as good as the once had. The dress had a worn appearance with large holes in some sections revealing bits of Dainty's black tights or bare dirty skin. The bow and cuffs were torn and disheveled looked and the bright pink shoes now were an odd bight brown, a combination of the dirt and gore that Dainty had to walk through.

"I could really use a shower and some new clothes" Dainty said to herself as she turned around, admiring the state of disrepair her once flush dress was in.

Suddenly a loud bang deafened Dainty's ears and shook the ground moments later. After regaining her footing and hearing, Dainty ran into the store and climbed the fire escape to the roof. Upon reaching it, she could see the mushroom cloud aftermath of a detonation not too far off in the distance. The rattling had knocked a few of the corpses off the top of her pile and the sound of the squishy flesh smacking against the hard pavement startled Dainty. However when she breathed back in, she started having a coughing fit. She quickly realizes that she and the rest of the nearby city were now enveloped in a thick green mist like gas. Her eyes burning and her cough continuing, Dainty raced down the fire escape and back into the store.

"What the hell is this stuff?" Dainty asked herself, while Clyde barked concernedly as Dainty coughed loudly again.

Suddenly another crashing noise could be heard as Dainty saw something leap over the pile of corpses that blocked off the alley. As the figure landed, it was clear it was unlike anything that Dainty had ever seen before.

The figure had the skin color of a normal zombie from what skin was visible under the complex machinery that covered much of this modified walker's body. Mechanical pistons reached from hip to thigh, correcting the zombie's usual wobbly and unsure footing. Mechanical google like devices sat near the zombie's eyes and had a cord that ran into the brain, improving the zombie's sight. The most menacing new addition to the zombie was two approximately 3 foot long blades that extended from where the hand should be that hung limp as the modified zombie slowly started to walk towards the building.

"I'll handle this" Dainty said confidently, petting Clyde on the head before tearing off a portion of her dress and tying it around her face to slightly cover her mouth. Dainty then grabbed her trusty rapier fencing blade and walked out of the shop to face her new opponent.

Upon leaving the shop, the zombie charged at Dainty with uncharacteristic speed for a zombie and wildly lashing out with its blade. Dainty parried the strike, but her unsureness let the zombie strike again. This time Dainty dashed back, letting the zombie come to her again. This time as the zombie swung Dainty deftly parried the strike, quickly ducking down to slash part of the way through the modified zombie's ankle.

The zombie crashed to the pavement, moaning loudly and trying to claw its way back up. Meanwhile Dainty walked up to the near helpless creature, a sadistic smile on my face.

"I'm going to love cutting you up and adding you to the stack" she said with a sick smile. "Maybe if you're lucky I'll hang you above the hearth like a hunting trophy!"

Dainty jumped next to the helpless zombie and started hacking off each limb one by one. Finally after much deliberation, she cut the zombie's head off with a strong thrust through the back of the neck. Her skin aside from the brown dirt splotches was soaked a deep red and her dress was damp even under her tights.

"That wasn't so…" she started.

Before she could finish, three more similarly configured modified zombies sprung over top her pile.

"…bad?" she finished, feeling a lump move down her throat.

The three new monstrosities each lunged out at her, intent on impaling her with their blades. She weaved in between each blade and countered the foes with some difficulty. Despite being a fencer, her natural talent as a fencing prodigy let her combat even these new zombies' ferocious assault with only mild strain. It was only a few minutes until the small group of zombies had been disposed of, albeit in a less exaggerated manner then before.

"I better go in and get Clyde" Dainty said to herself. "We have to get out of here…"

Her outspoken thoughts were interrupted by a great crashing sound. Dainty soon realized that the sound was her pile of bodies caving in towards her. Stepping back frantically, she avoids the sliding corpses and looked to the entrance in surprise.

In front of her stood a new type of modified zombie flanked by four of the variety she had seen before. This new zombie was about 1 to 2 feet taller than the zombies around it, looking to be standing at least 7 feet tall. While this new zombie seemed to lack piston enhanced legs or blade hands that the other zombies had, the huge zombie was almost entirely incased in hard looking metal aside from its extremities. With a ferocious howl, the behemoth starting trudging towards where Dainty stood, as the lesser zombies encircled Dainty to cut off her escapes.

"Oh shit…" Dainty whispered.

The four lesser mechanical zombies started to jab at Dainty from all directions. Dainty was able to defend herself for a short while against the assault, but then felt a sharp pain through the right side of her abdomen. One of the zombie's blades had pierced narrowly near the right edge of her thin chest. The zombie who had impaled Dainty led her away from the others as it clumsily tried to pull Dainty deeper into the blade and toward its waiting, blood soaked mouth. Dainty pushed away frantically with her hands, having dropped her blade when struck. Everything started to go black…

Suddenly something struck the zombie, causing the zombie to tumble back and Dainty to fall off the blade. Her vision was blurry for a while as she felt warm blood run out of the thing hole the blade has left pierced through her. As her vision returned, she saw Clyde bravely posturing against the zombies and guarding his new master.

"No Clyde, we have to go" Dainty said weakly.

Before she could blink, one of the blade handed zombies had pierced its arm through Clyde and pinned him down. Then the bigger zombie smashed his foot down on top of the dog, causing its guts to fly everywhere.

"Clyde!" Dainty screamed, before beginning to sob over the death of her only comrade since this all began. "How dare you!"

Dainty slowly got back to her feet, psychotic rage in her eyes. Her vision was really starting to blur, but her rage filled her with focus and urgency. She rushed as the blade handed zombies and started to cut them down with ferocious, aggressive and reckless strokes. More blade handed zombies began to arrive from the street into the alley, so Dainty turned tail and fled up the fire escape. Upon reaching the top, Dainty noticed out of the corner of her eye that the blade armed zombies were leaping up onto the fire escape as well and that their weight was causing a screw next to Dainty to rattle around under the strain. Swinging her blade to break the beam in question, the fire escape fell off the side of the building and carried the zombies with it to their demise.

Dainty stammered to the top of the building, her vision now strained more than ever. She propped herself up on her sword, panting loudly from fatigue.

"At least… this should by me some time…" she mumbled under her breath.

However a loud banging sound from lower in the building grabbed her attention. With the sound gaining her attention, she wandered closer to the edge. However she sprang back away from the edge when a giant hand almost grabbed her face before gripping the edge of the roof. With one hug the leap the behemoth zombie leapt into the air and came down on the roof, shaking the foundation of the entire building.

"You want to dance… big guy…?" Dainty said weakly before charging at the beast.

In response, the beast just casually swatted Dainty away with its giant metal palm. Dainty struck the concrete hard and broke her nose on the concrete as she slid face first.

"I… can't take any more of… those…" Dainty muttered, swaying in her step as she tried to get to her feet. "I've got to… run away…"

Dainty stumbled towards the closest side of the building and leapt into the air. Her jump was not very graceful as she tumbled and landed on her back as she hit the ground on the next roof over.

However it seems the behemoth's jump wasn't very graceful either as it belly flopped from one roof to the next. As it landed, Dainty saw that the back of the monsters neck wasn't armored.

Garnering what remained of her strength, Dainty charged at the beast and mounted its neck. Once on top of it, Dainty took her rapier in two hands and repeatedly drove it into the creature's neck until it stopped moving.

Getting off the beast, Dainty drunkenly stumbled towards the center of the roof.

"I… think I'll…take a quick…" she barely muttered before collapsing in a bloody heap on the center of the roof.

As her vision faded, she could see some of the remaining blade handed zombies climb up the roof and slowly walk towards her.

"I…guess this is it…" she said.

"Not even close" Dainty heard a low male voice say next to her, startling her for a second.

Out of what remained of her vision Dainty saw a tall male figure in a dark black cloak bound around the rooftops and eviscerate the remaining zombies with ease using two slightly tinted fencing blades.

"You're… a fencer too?" Dainty said before finally blacking out…

Two days later…

Dainty awoke alone with a start in an unknown room. She started to cough violently again before turning to observe he surroundings. The room appeared to be a fairly nice hotel style room and the bed where Dainty lay seemed to be freshly made. The first thing Dainty noticed that much of her body was stiff and unmoving, having been rattled by the crazy engagement. She attempted to kick the covers off the bed, but quickly grabbed them again when she realized she wasn't wearing anything. Her face lit up red, realizing that man had probably seen her naked. Her eyes continued to wander the room until they came across a folded piece of paper. Picking it up, she read it aloud.

"Dear stranger…" Dainty began. "When I got to you, you were in really bad shape. I did what I could to stich your wound closed, but I'm certainly no suture. You may want to find an actual doctor for that, but this will do for now".

Dainty felt along the right of her chest where she had been impaled and felt the stich work across her side like the letter said.

"I must commend your combative talents" Dainty said, continuing to read the note. "Not many people were able to survive the blade zombies, let alone those big one. It looked like you were in need of a shower too, so I washed you off. I promise I tried not to look".

"Bullshit" Dainty said with a small laugh.

"The explosion you probably heard or saw was a dangerous toxin released into the city" Dainty said as she kept reading. "It is rumored to be designed to kill out not only the living zombies, but the humans as well. I've also heard that there are a limited number of vaccinations for the virus near the dockyards, but that is only a rumor. You are welcome to stay in the room for as long as you need to recover. However try not to make much noise and leave the room as you found it. I feel as though we could have been good friends had the apocalypse not happened and if I didn't have things I needed to take care of. If we cross paths again though, don't expect me to nurture your wounds or give you baths. And always remember, watch your back. Sincerely, anonymous".

"At least someone is looking out for me…" Dainty said with a chuckle…

That's it for this week guys! Don't expect it to be this long every time I update! I just got into this time and had to set a bit of background in this chapter that I won't in the next few. Before I sign off let's get a quick profile on the two new enhanced zombies introduced in the chapter.

Class: Impaler (Common)

Description: The most common of the enhanced zombies. They are more lethal than normal zombies, but have no specialized traits when compared to their more specialized advanced brethren. They have better hunting instincts and have a pack mentality when hunting survivors.

Offensive:

Strength - 4

Speed - 4

Agility - 6

Dexterity- 2

Reach- 4

Skill- 2

Jump- 1

Awareness- 6

Defensive:

Toughness - 3

Stamina - 10

Block - 1

Dodge - 4

Parry - 5

Elusiveness - 4

Luck - 1

Recovery - 1

Class: Behemoth (Sub-boss)

Description: Modified to be the tanks of the modified horde. Other zombie units rally around them. Unarmored weaknesses include their ankles or the back of their neck.

Offensive:

Strength - 10

Speed - 5

Agility - 1

Dexterity- 1

Reach- 6

Skill- 2

Jump- 7

Awareness- 5

Defensive:

Toughness - 10

Stamina - 10

Block - 10

Dodge - 1

Parry - 1

Elusiveness - 1

Luck - 1

Recovery – 1

Alright everyone, that's it for now. There will be another chapter later this month, so keep on the lookout for the update. Please favorite, follow and review the story. It really helps me out. If you have any questions about the story or want to submit a character for the nemesis roster, feel free to PM me.

This has been Lazersword88, signing off!


	3. Mission 2: Zach: Containment Breach

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 back for another update. It looks like we have seven reviews on the last chapter, which was a little bit under my expectations but still ok. Let's shoot to have ten reviews on this chapter.

I would also like to reiterate that submissions are not closed for this story. As of this point I have nine total characters, none new since last chapter, and I only think I know of one or two more yet to be sent in. If you are on the fence as to whether to send in a character, please feel free to do so. That being said, they are not guaranteed to be in the story due to my relatively high standards for character selection. That being said, the length of this story will be determined by the number of characters I get on the Nemesis roster. I want this story to have a clear beginning and end, but a few more characters wouldn't hurt.

Now with that out of the way, let's get into our introduction to "Zach"…

Z day + 1 year and 1 day…

"You said you needed to see me Dr. Smith?" an older man with a full white beard and thick Russian accent said. "This better be important, because integral parts of my plan are occurring as we speak".

"Sir… project Z.A.C.H. has escaped…" the scientist who had rushed into the room said.

"What?!" the bearded man screamed. "How did this happen?"

"Well it all started yesterday when…"

The day before…

Smith's Experiment Journal Entry # 6,572: Because of the armed personnel backing from our supporters, we've been able to continue our research into the alpha virus subject despite the chaos above this underground lab. Conditions are rough but passable enough. Zach has evolved greatly over the eighteen years we have been experimenting on him. The crisis of a month ago has been narrowly averted, with the exoskeleton pieces that we have bolted onto what remained of Zach's decaying skeletal structure finally taking permanent hold. The subject has been becoming increasingly restless ever since the infection began to spread a year ago. I will now take our daily samples and begin testing…

A scientist opened the padded door and walked into a cramped completely white room. Chained to one of the walls was Zach. Zach had been taken from his parents at infancy by these scientists, due to him being the first to be found with the rare virus that eventually evolved into the cause of the outbreak. There were others like him, but almost all of the others had to be put down due to instability or were killed by the virus they were a host to. Zach on the other hand lived on in captivity, becoming this group's best chance of finding what they desired.

Zach's skin was a pale grey and looked dead, but was not decayed like many of his infected brethren. His hair was dark black and cut short. As he saw the scientist approach, he rattled around in his restraints, which held both his head and limbs against the wall. Zach was not clothed except for white undergarments, which allowed an observer to see the mechanical exoskeleton that was bolted onto his frame. The exoskeleton ran from Zach's ankle to up his leg, onto his back and arms, and connected to a particular area on his neck. The exoskeleton was comprised of fairly thick metal bars and did no cover Zach's entire body. The area on his neck where the exoskeleton stopped was the place where years ago the doctors has placed a device to slow the flow of the infectious virus to Zach's brain, therefore allowing him to keep some human sentience. The metal mechanical exoskeleton also formed a circle around the back of the 6 foot hybrid zombie's back, which caused some of the scientists to give him the nickname Zero. However, the majority of the scientists though it was corny and made the others stop calling him that. Instead the scientists decided to stick with his original name Zach, which was an acronym for Zombie Alpha Contained Host or Z.A.C.H.

Smith removed a needle from its protective cover and proceeded to stick it into Zach's bound arm, causing Zach to attempt to thrash in rage.

"You seem to be in a real bad mood today…" Smith taking the blood he needed as Zach squirmed.

Suddenly, a deafening boom could be heard as the whole basement complex shook.

"What the hell was…?" Smith stammered.

Before he could finish, one of the bolts restraining Zach snapped out of the wall. Soon Zach's feral grip was wrapped around Smith's head. Tossing Smith away into the corner of the room, Zach growled loudly as he flailed and reached to destroy is other restraints with his now free hand.

Smith ran to the intercom on the door and pounded on it frantically.

"Open up the door you grunt!" Smith yelled. "The subject is getting loose!"

"I can't do that sir" the mercenary said, in an Australian accent. "I say its best we contain that dingo, even if it means you bite it".

"I'm getting out whether you want me to or not!" Smith said. "Because I'm head scientist, I have the override codes…"

Smith punched in the override code to the door control, causing the door to slowly slide open. However before he could get out of the room, a mighty shove made him slide away from the door and back into the corner as it slid shut again.

"Ah bloody hell…" the mercenary muttered.

"All… humans… will… die…" Zach muttered, breathing deeply and angrily.

"Boys hop on over here, the crocodile has jumped the pond!" the head mercenary said again as three other mercs rounded the corner and faced down the rampaging Zach.

The first mercenary came at Zach with a meaty swing of his broadsword. Zach lift up his arm and the solid swing crashed harmlessly into his metal exoskeleton on the backside of his forearm. As his assailant fell back and stumbled off his feet, Zach dived on top of him and sunk his deep into the mercenary's neck.

The farthest mercenary down the thin corridor began to clumsily fish for the handgun holstered to his waist, but Zach instinctively picked up his first assailant's sword and threw it with great dexterity at the man drawing the gun. The blade pierced clean through the gunman's chest causing him to plow against the wall of the corridor, causing him to hang off the wall.

The only female of the four mercenaries did an elegant cartwheel and landed perfectly on her feet behind Zach as the leader of the band of mercenaries moved in with his axes. The woman loosed an arrow from her bow which struck Zach's fleshy back from behind, causing him to wince for a moment.

"Try to hit the doohickey in his neck!" the head bandit said.

However, the pain only caused Zach to roar and run towards the bow wielding woman. Despite being slowed by the exoskeleton, Zach was still able to close the distance by blocking and dodging the arrows. Once he reached his ranged attacked attacker, he grabbed the bow away from her and snapped it in half. The woman stammered away before grabbing a knife from her belt.

The leader of the group threw one of his axes at Zach's head, but with uncanny reaction speed Zach caught it out or the air and in one smooth motion threw it at the woman. The axe struck the woman straight between the eyes, causing her to fall to the floor.

"You monster!" the head mercenary screamed, charging at Zach with his other axe.

The merc chopped at Zach, but each time his blow resulted in a sharp clang as it collided with the hybrid zombies' exoskeleton. Zach then countered with a vicious elbow to the face, the exoskeleton on the back of his joint knocked some of the teeth out of the mercenary's jaw as he careened to the floor.

As the assailant laid there rattled, Zach collected his dropped axe off the ground and pulled the second axe from the dead woman's bloody head.

"If you're going to finish me, just do it you monster!" the man screamed.

"No…" Zach muttered in a deep but eerily silent tone. "Humans… are… the … monsters. I'll make… them pay for… what they did… to me…"

Zach crouched down and pulled the mercenary's face towards his before sinking his teeth into the man's throat as he screamed. All the while, Dr. Smith watched from the locked testing chamber in horror as Zach dined on every scrap of flesh on each of his four victims.

Zach's feast took an hour and soon all that remained of the four mercenaries were severely disfigured reanimated corpses that slowly waddled around the tight corridor.

"It's… too cold… to go outside… like this…" Zach said to himself.

Zach walked to the now reanimated leader of the mercenaries and chopped off his head with a few swings of his axe. From there he took the clothes off of the corpse and put them on himself. Zach now wore a blood soaked hoodie that was once white, a black overcoat and matching gloves, dark blue jeans and hiking boots. In addition he put his two newly acquired axes back into the holster for them on the leader's jeans. Finally he took the gas mask from one of the mercenary's packs and placed it over his own face before departing the hallway by climbing up a ladder and removing a manhole cover.

Climbing up from out of the sewer, Zach observed his desolate surroundings that were enveloped by a foreign green, mist like gas.

"All of the… humans… will suffer…" he muttered before racing off…

Back in the Secret Office Base…

"So you were responsible for letting him loose Smith" the man behind the desk said, stroking his beard.

"No, I said it was that explosion that rattled the restraints…" Smith retorted.

"You've failed me for the last time…" the man said before pulling a shotgun up from his lap under the table and gutting Smith with it.

Smith quickly passed out on the floor and died, his blood staining his pristine white lab coat. The mysterious figure then picked up the phone.

"Get a team together now" he said angrily. "I want Zach found…"

That's it for now guys. Please be sure to review, favorite, follow and send in a character if you haven't already. In your reviews please be sure to tell me your opinions on both Zach and Dainty, as you might be able to persuade other readers and that will greatly affect who will be the first character to face a fight to the death.

Additionally this is the last update for March. I will be using the rest of the month to update both of my other long running stories. However, be on the lookout for an update sometime in early April.

This has been Lazersword88, signing off.


	4. Mission 3: Misty: House Party

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 finally back for another quick update. First off I wanted to explain the reason for my absence. About a month ago I tore my acl, sprained my mcl and possibly tore my meniscus playing sports. Couple this with it being prime test time in the semester and I haven't had much time or energy to dedicate to writing or pretty much any non-school activity that I could push back a few weeks.

With that being said, it'll take me a bit of time to get everything sorted out with this story. I know 2-3 more of you guys sent me in new characters. I'll be getting back to you on their status in the story early next month. Since I already have enough characters lined up to keep this story going for a while, I feel my time right now is best spent getting the story back on its twice a month update pace.

I'm also deciding to change the format of the story a small bit. These changes will only come into play after we've had our first nemesis battle at the end of next month. Rather than do a dedicated chapter for each character in our four main character rotation after each nemesis battle, I'm opting for a less time consuming option. Instead after each nemesis battle we will have one chapter to introduce the new character (assuming there is one) and one chapter to develop the surviving members of our main rotation more. This means we will only have to wait 1-2 chapters before our next OC vs OC fight. I feel this will both streamline the story and make it more interesting for you guys.

With that being said, if I get 10 reviews on the chapter before Sunday I'll be posting another chapter before the month ends. If not I'll wait until the first half of May to make that chapter.

So without further ado, let's meet our third starting character…

Z Day + 1 year, 1 hour after first contamination:

"Dammit Rico" a young man said, peering out of the window of an armored car at the large number of zombies that shimmered across the street in front of the alley they were parked in. "There is no way this grocery run isn't going to get one of us killed".

"If you have a loud mouth like that Maxis then they will kill you" Rico said with a lack of urgency. "Silence is golden. That's what has got us through a year of this shit".

"Can it" Maxis said rudely. "The only reason I'm doing this is because Martha is really sick".

"Do you think it's because of that green gas stuff?" Rico asked, before being interrupted by a bunch of loud clanging noises in the store to the right of the car. "You think that's a survivor?"

"I don't think it will be much of one if we wait up" Maxis asserted, handing Rico his fire axe and picking up his baseball bat.

The two crept out of the car and Rico kicked open the loosely locked door to the back of the store. Once inside they saw the cause of all the commotion.

A girl who looked to be high school age was surrounded by a group of zombies that had small blades for hands. Despite being outnumbered, the girl viciously swung at the zombies with a small campfire axe as her bleach blond ponytail whipped through the air behind her. She appeared to stand a bit less than 6 feet tall and had a large amount of muscular bulk, even for a girl her age and size. After a meaty swing her axe lodged into the neck of one of the modified zombies, causing blood to splatter all over her deeply tanned skin and white tank top. However, anther one of the zombies got behind the girl and smacked her to the ground with a flail from the flat side of its blade.

The two young men jumped in and fought off the remaining zombies before picking the girl up and dragging her back to the van. As they pulled out of the alley and sped down the empty street, the young girl blushed as she looked at her rescuers.

"Are you bitten?" Maxis asked, staring back at the girl intermittently in between steering the van.

"No…" the girl replied shyly.

"Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you" Rico said, looking concernedly at the visibly tired girl. "What's your name?"

"I'm Misty, but you can call me Sty" Misty said.

"Were you with anyone before you got attacked?" Maxis barked, swerving the van to avoid a zombie that wandered into the road.

"No, I've been alone for a while now" Misty said with a sad innocent look on her face.

"We've got room for you with us" Rico said with a smile…

30 minutes later…

"Martha, we're back!" Maxis said after locking the fifth deadbolt on the small apartment's door.

The three walked up a flight of stairs to find a pale grade school age girl playing with dolls in what looked to be a living room.

"This is Misty" Maxis said, pointing at the newcomer. "We found her at the store while we were looking for your medication".

"Hi!" the little girl said enthusiastically, causing Misty to blush.

"Hi…" Misty said back weakly.

"Misty is our niece" Rico said. "Unfortunately…"

"Rico!" Maxis yelled. "We don't talk about that!"

"Sorry I forgot…" Rico muttered

"Alright, I'll start working on dinner" Maxis said, carrying a few bags of supplies towards a half kitchen. "Why don't you give Sty the full tour?"

Rico and Misty walked up another half flight of stairs. Rico opened a bedroom door for Misty and propped his fire axe outside the door before following her inside.

"You'll share this bed with Martha" Rico said, pointing to a small bed in the corner of the room.

"Isn't that a little small for me?" Misty asked.

"That depends" Rico said smiling devilishly. "Are you ready to go to the big boy room?"

"What are you talking…" Misty started to stay before being violently interrupted.

Rico pulled Misty's head violently towards his own, smacking his lips into hers. As Misty tried to pull away, Rico only forced her closer. Soon his tongue was forcing its way around Misty's mouth and his hand started to grope Misty's breast.

"Turned on yet?" Rico said, finally letting Misty breath.

"I think we should stop…" Misty said, glancing towards the door.

"Girl, I'm not letting you leave this room until you pay me back for saving your life" Rico said, his hands still wrapped around Misty's head.

"Do you really want to chance ingesting some of the zombie blood?" Misty said, shivering in fear.

"Fine, but you better come back here after you're done showering" Rico said, with a perverted look. "Otherwise I'll tell Maxis you attacked me and he'll kill you on the spot".

"Ok…" Misty muttered.

"Now you're being a good girl" Rico said, moving his hands lower and squeezing Misty's butt. "Put this on when you come out".

Misty scurried away into the bathroom and locked the door. Misty turned on the sink and splashed some water on her face before undressing and jumping into the shower. Drying off and pulling on the lingerie that Rico forced upon her, a sick smile came to her face.

Misty re-entered the room as Rico approached her, having striped down to his undergarments. However before he could grab hold of her, Misty shoved Rico back and he fell onto the bed.

"Whoa baby, easy with the force!" Rico commanded.

"Then you're not going to like this…" Misty said as a horrifyingly evil smile suddenly came to her face.

In one strong swing Misty drove the 14 inch long axe that Rico had left outside straight into his stomach as blood splattered all over the sheets and Misty's once clean body. Rico let out a shrill scream as Misty removed the axe and kept chopping Rico's limbs clean off his body one at a time. Finally with one clean swing, Misty struck Rico's neck and his head rolled off the bead.

"What the hell!" Maxis yelled, having heard the commotion and come upstairs just in time to witness his brothers head roll of the bed.

"Maybe I'm not as innocent as I look…" Misty said with a wicked smile, springing up from the bed and charging at Maxis with axe in hand.

Maxis fled down the stairs, but lost his balance and landed badly on his ankle. He careened to the ground as he yelled out in pain, taking Martha's attention away from her dolls. Unable to stand, Maxis tried to crawl away from Sty as she slowly walked towards him with axe in hand.

"I hope you don't need any of your limbs" Misty said, clad in just the lingerie and blood.

Misty swung her axe and in one clean swing removed Maxis' leg. As the blood splattered across the room and onto Martha's face, the sickly girl let out an ear shattering scream and scurried away.

Misty ignored the little girl and continued to hack off the uncle's limbs one at a time, with the conviction of Maxis' pleas waning with each successive strike. After Maxis had finally given up the ghost, Misty ventured back upstairs and started rummaging through the drawers for clothes, valuables and weapons.

"Ah, gotta love those perverts" Misty said to herself as she pulled out a light brown long sleeve shirt and tried it on. "That's the second one this week that's fallen for my tricks".

Misty went from room to room in this same fashion, but came out with less than she was looking for. The apartment had a surprisingly good selection of women's clothing despite it seeming to have belonged to the two men she had brutally murdered. By the time she was done she had on the brown long-sleeved shirt with a purple hoodie overtop, knee high studded biker boots and a pair of tan cargo shorts. Misty took a moment to look at herself in the mirror in the bathroom, her cobalt blue eyes shining back at her.

However the house didn't seem to have many worthwhile weapons no matter home much she scoured it and the only food she could find was the edibles the group had just acquired from the grocery store.

"Maybe I could always eat that little girl for dinner" Misty joked to herself, her wicked smile returning. "Nah, I don't think I'm that desperate yet".

Misty lurked down the stairs and into the apartment's main room, axe in hand. She crept over to the pot of marinara sauce in a pot overflowing over the stove burner and scooped some up with her finger to taste.

"Come here little girl" Misty said sadistically. "I promise you and I will make a lot of red sauce!"

Misty jumped around a corner to find the little girl cowering in fear between the washing machine in the side room and the wall.

"Please don't hurt me!" the girl screamed.

"Oh trust me, I won't hurt you" Misty said, grabbing the girl by the neck and taking a long whiff of her scent. "However, I'm sure the zombies will like the way you taste".

Misty carried the little girl down the stairs as she flailed and gasped for air in panicked fashion. She unlocked the door and a cold rush of night air brushed against her skin. Silently closing the door, Misty saw that two normal zombies had noticed her and slowly started shambling towards her.

"Please stop this" the girl cried, tears rolling down her face.

"No one listened to me say that when my mother was tricked, raped and killed" Misty said coldly before throwing the girl to the ground in front of the zombies and turning to walk back to the apartment.

Suddenly, Misty heard something strike down the two zombies in front of the girl. Turning to see what had happened, she was greeted by an unexpected adversary.

"Stay behind me" the stranger said, helping the little girl up. "You're going to make it through this ok".

"You're a fool for getting in my way!" Misty howled, raising her fire axe. "Prepare to die in her place!"…

That's all for now guys! Be sure to voice your opinions on Misty Thyme. Remember, in one more chapter I'm going to open up a poll on my profile for you to pick who deserves a nemesis battle (or who doesn't deserve to live on in the story). By voicing your opinions you may convince people to vote with you to either save characters you like or kill the ones you don't.

Until next time guys, Lazersword88 signing off!


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